


The Bees and the Black Silk Ribbon

by Kiiratam



Category: RWBY
Genre: Bumbleby Week 2019, Canon Compliant, Dancing, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 23:05:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19840390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam
Summary: Prior to formal Bumbleby (the relationship), the Bees try to practice Bumblebee (the combo), but can't get a practice room. Rather than take Bumblebee (the bike) somewhere, the Bees not-quite-dance in circles, practicing for Bumblebee (the combo), but also for Bumbleby (the relationship). Buzz buzz.Takes place about a week before the start of Volume 3. (My BMBLB fic index)(For the Atlas Ball prompt for Bumbleby Week 2019. Technically.)





	The Bees and the Black Silk Ribbon

It was a week before the Vytal tournament, and there was not a single place to spar to be found. Not for love or lien. Yang Xiao Long, fed up with angry pacing, sat down on the bench, yellow hair bristling. "No free spots, everything's already reserved, and the call list for cancellation fill-ins was as long as my arm. It's six in the morning!"

  
Next to her, Blake Belladonna yawned. "So, back to bed?" she asked, with deliberate ease. She wasn't sure if it was just dawn haloing Yang's hair, or if her Semblance had triggered. Ever since Mountain Glenn, Yang had been on even more of a hair trigger. Blake didn't like it - it was too familiar. Short-tempered, blowing up over the smallest things - she forced down bad memories. _Breathe in, hold it, breathe out._

But Blake knew what to watch out for, what didn't work - when to give up and run. And it wasn't yet. She needed to be there for Yang; just defuse the current bomb, and try to get her to open up. "I think Nora's running her workout over by the fountain, if you've got too much energy." Blake pointed at the distant pink figure, fingers brushing past Yang's hair.

  
Yang laughed, shaking her head. "Last time we tried to keep up with Nora, we needed a week to recover. No one should have that much energy."

  
_Good, the edge was gone again._ "Must be all the cake."

  
"Stupid electric metabolism. I think I saw her burp sparks, once."

  
"Jaune said he says he saw her stick a fork in a socket, and then lick it." Blake paused. "Of course, it's Jaune, so..."

  
"Ruby wants to electrify her hammer's handle, just turn the entire grip into a cattle prod. She's got plans and everything." Yang laughed, "But she's also got plans to add a rocket-propelled sword blade to Ember Celica, and turn Gambol Shroud into, and I'm repeating her word-for-word, here: 'The Biggest Katana.'"

  
Blake kept her ears from twitching, and wrinkled her nose instead. "How would that even work? The balance would be completely different, and I don't think a pistol grip would give me the leverage-"

  
"Hey, hey, her words. You want crazy, though?" Yang grinned broadly, and leaned forward, lowering her voice. "She has _detailed diagrams_ and _parts order forms_ all set up for Myrtenaster."

  
"Oh no. She's Weiss' baby. Like, literal baby. She cleans it with _mink_." Blake raised her head, scanning the quad for white hair. Finding none, she leaned back into the conversation. "What does Ruby want to do?"

  
"Make Myrtenaster magazine fed."

  
"Weiss would kill her. Straight through the heart, aura wouldn't save her, just dead." Blake chopped her hand across the air.

  
Yang pressed her lips together tightly, trying not to laugh. "That's only the first plan. She's got one for straight mags, one with sickle mags, drum mags -"

  
"Yang, and I say this with love, your little sister has _issues_."

  
"Bound collections of _Weapons Illustrated_ , actually. But wait, there's more."

  
Blake took her friend by the shoulders. "What's left to do? Thinking about Myrtenaster with a drum magazine is causing me physical pain. **Me**."

  
"Belt-fed."

  
_Breathe in. Hold it. Breathe out._ "...Excuse me?"

  
Yang raised her eyebrows, and spread her hands. "Belt-fed. Tandem operated, emplaced, belt-fed Myrtenaster."

  
Closing her eyes, Blake leaned forward, touching her forehead to Yang's, and laid her hands flat across Yang's temples.

  
"Uhh, Blake?"

  
"Shhhh. You have put these images into my mind, and I am trying to give them back to you."

  
"She also had plans to make Ember Celica matching shotgun boots."

  
Blake broke contact. "That seems reasonable now. Like that guy from Haven Academy - Mercury?"

  
"I think that was his name. Anyway - no point going back to bed. I'm already awake." Yang rolled her shoulders and neck, stretched one arm across her chest, then the other. "Ideas?"

  
"One. Follow me." Blake led the way across the quad, into a grove of trees, emerging into a small clearing, ten feet across.

  
Yang wore her biggest grin. "And why have you brought me to Romantic Rendezvous Central?"

  
"One, it's beautiful here. Two, no one is here, because it's too early for making out-"

  
"-Is it, though?"

  
Blake spread her hands. "Do you see anyone?"

  
Yang made a show of going on tip-toes, and looking about the clearing. She stooped and tossed a few pebbles into the undergrowth, heard only squirrels and birds. "No one is here, making out. But I still say it's not too early."

  
"Not my point. No one is here, so I can do this." Blake reached up and undid the ribbon holding her ears into a bow-like shape. She flexed her top ears this way and that, and passed the other end of the ribbon to Yang. "And now we can practice."

  
Waving her hand around the clearing, Yang said, "Not exactly enough room to practice Bumblebee." She tugged on Blake's ribbon. "And it's a bit short, anyway."

  
"Practice, not go full speed on." Blake tugged back on her ribbon. "We need to practice coordination, balance, teamwork. Just us."

  
Yang snorted, wrapping a length of the ribbon around her right hand. "Sounds like what we do when we ride downtown."

  
Facing down the strength of Yang's arm with just her finger and thumb, Blake matched her motion, leaving four inches of taut black ribbon stretched between their hands. "Almost. You steer your bike, I just help. We need to do something where I lead, and you follow."

  
"So what's the plan?"

  
Blake tried not to flush, and just get through her whole explanation. "So, I may only have read about this. But we're going to circle around each other, not touching apart from the ribbon. You just need to follow my lead, and do what I do. Eventually, we get rid of the ribbon, and then we can change leading foot and hand freely."

  
"So, it's part dancing, part squaring up before the fight starts." Yang lifted her arms into a guard position, pulling Blake off her back foot. "Easy enough."

  
"Yang, I need to lead. That's the whole point. You can't just drag me along with you." Blake tried to keep the edge out of her voice, trying not to put Yang's hackles up.

  
"Right." Yang dropped her hands. "Sorry." Blake kept her hand low, her back straight, and started circling the point midway between them, sidestepping slowly.

  
"Nice and slow. Deliberate. You want to be matching me without having to think about it."

  
Yang made a half-shuffling step in advance of her circling. Blake frowned. "Yang, it's not a fight. Don't try to get ahead of me, and beat me to the punch. Call and response, a dialogue, not a shouting match."

  
"...You got this out of one of your romance novels, didn't you?"

  
Blake looked down, concentrating on where she was planting her feet. " _Knight-Errants of Passion_. Same author as _Ninjas of Love_. It's... less smutty."

  
Yang laughed. "More squishy and romantic?"

  
"Yeah, before fate tears them apart again. About equal romance and tragedy. Less politics. Fewer katanas." Blake paused in her circling, and started turning the other way.

  
Yang matched her. "What does the guy use instead, a flail? Maces? A meteor hammer?"

  
"They're both girls, actually."

  
"Yeah, but what do they _fight_ with?"

  
"One uses deer-horn knives, and the other uses wind and fire wheels." Blake raised their linked hands high. "You spin, then you spin me."

  
Yang seemed to enjoy getting to lead again, even if it was only for a moment, before Blake started the circling again. "Was that bit from the book, or did you just want to dance?"

  
Blake smiled, and raised their hands to start the spin again. "I like seeing you have fun." The spins came out more naturally this time, and they fell back into the spiraling easily. "Want to try it without the ribbon?"

  
"Sure." Yang unwound the ribbon, and handed it back to her. Blake settled for just tying it around her wrist - no reason to tie her ears up here.

  
"So, left arm up at an angle, matching mine, and we touch at the back of the wrist - yeah, like that. And, step. Step. Step." It was harder without the constant pull of the ribbon, and they fell silent in concentration. The first time Blake tried to change direction, Yang kept going the old direction, and they wound up side-by-side. The second time, Yang followed her after a moment of hesitation. By the fifth time, there was no hesitation in her change of direction.

  
Yang broke the silence. "I may have to borrow that book."

  
"She's writing another spin-off from it. It's not supposed to have any fighting in it at all. Or smut. Just fancy balls."

  
"How unrealistic."

  
Blake shrugged. "It's fiction. It's allowed to be."

  
Yang's stomach made a sudden and loud protestation. Giggling, Blake dropped her hand. "Lunch?"

  
"Breakfast, I think." Pulling out her scroll, Yang checked the time. "Brunch?"

  
Blake's stomach also grumbled in unhappiness. "Let's just feed them before they start eating us." She carefully retied the bow about her ears. "Do I look good?"

  
"Perfect bow, every time. Wrinkle-free."

  
Laughing, Blake mussed Yang's hair. "Thanks, Yang. And thanks for practicing with me."

  
"Sure. It was fun, once we got the hang of it. Hey, I wonder - this is supposed to help us fight better, right? Do you think it'll also make us dance better?"

  
"I guess we'll find out after the tournament. There's supposed to be a dance for the end of Vytal festival."

  
Yang grinned. "Maybe Weiss will actually let her hair down, since she doesn't have to organize this one."

  
"Maybe she'll actually bring a date. Think she'll go for Neptune again?"

  
"After what happened last time? No way." Yang considered for a moment. "Maybe she'll ask Pyrrha."

  
"And Pyrrha will say no, and ask Jaune. And Jaune will say no, and ask Weiss." Blake drew a triangle in the air.

  
"Can't we just make them all go together? It would save all of them a lot of running around. And the rest of us would stop tearing our hair out watching it."

  
Blake shrugged. "We can talk to Ren and Nora about it. They'll have ideas."

  
"Good ideas?" Yang did not seem confident.

  
"We could ask your sister. Belt-fed Myrtenaster needs a loader. I'm sure she has ideas how to get one."

  
"Yeah, but again... good ideas?"

  
Turning up her hands, Blake said, "Let's sit on it until after the tournament. Maybe a miracle will happen, and we won't have to do anything." Her scroll pinged, and she opened it.

  
"Anything good?"

  
"Strangely relevant. For the pre-release for _Debutantes of Ardor_ , they released a fancy 'make your own debutante gown' program. Want to play around with it after lunch?"

  
Yang shrugged. "Sure, why not? Maybe Weiss will invite us to a fancy Schnee Ball up in Atlas."


End file.
